Five years post split

In December 2011 my ex and I split as a couple. A tough time. With one of the hardest aspects being when we informed the kiddies we were splitting. I can still see the uplifted eyebrows on #2 sons face and the slumped body language of #1 son.

The black dog came to keep me company for a large chunk of the next 4 or so years. With 2012 being the bleakest period of my life. I was in Sydney away from the family, Vodafone laid off hundreds of people and I was amongst them. Three months unemployment with money being very tight. Then, luckily, a job at AMP that was the best job I've had in my life. But even that couldn't help me to avoid having the black dog as a near constant companion.

During 2012, a couple we knew that lived in Kurrajong were going a bleak period as Kristian had her life stolen by Motor Neuron Disease.  One of my regrets over 2012 was that I never went out there. The major reason was that I was so down I didn't want to bring them down as well. In 2011 the ex and I had spent a fair bit of time at Kurrajong helping support Stephen and Kristian. With the ex coming over from New Zealand for 5 to 7 days at a time.  So while I had a crap year, it wasn't the same year that Stephen and Kristian had.

When my dad died in 2013 and left me a modest inheritance I chose to stop working. My motivation to work in a corporate environment died with the death of my relationship, and with the inheritance from my father providing a financial cushion, I chose to try to learn poker. And not very well to this point.

Moving to Melbourne has been the best thing for my mental health. Maybe not for my financial health. But definitely for my mental health.  And co-incident with the move to Melbourne I started listening to Alexander Fitzgerald's one outer podcast.  Inspiration and motivation flow into my headphones on a weekly basis by way of a 27-28 year olds rants about the need to work hard to get better at poker.  And I've learned quite a bit from his webinars and podcasts.

At this stage I don't see myself ever living in New Zealand again. I'm enjoying Australia too much. And being back in Auckland might allow the black dog to sniff out my trail again.